Form the Future is delighted to be supported by the Cambridge Forum for the Construction Industry (CFCI), particularly through their Young Ambassadors, known as Next Gen. It’s always inspiring for students to hear from near peers who have embarked on exciting careers but aren’t so far removed from where they are now.
With this in mind, we are excited to feature Rachel Earnshaw from Owers Warwick Architects in this Ambassador Spotlight. Rachel shares her experiences as a Young Ambassador for both CFCI Next Gen and Form the Future, highlighting how her involvement has been beneficial not only to students but also “applicable to the workplace and helpful in my professional life too.”
Name: Rachel Earnshaw
Job Title: Architect
Organisation: Owers Warwick Architects
What other jobs did you do, before this one?
“Throughout school I waitressed for catering companies, helping at events and weddings from the age of 14 and I also worked in a Cafe. At 18, I went to university to study architecture on a 3-year undergraduate course and carried on waitressing during the holidays. I also went abroad to do some au pairing and did some other odd jobs throughout university.
I got my first full-time job after my undergraduate degree, working for a year in an architecture practice for my part one placement. I then went back to do a two-year Masters, whilst working at my architecture practice over the summer. Then after my Masters, I got the job at Owers Warwick. That was over five years ago, as a part two graduate, and since then I’ve done my final qualification through the company. I’ve now been qualified for three years.”
Complete this sentence: “When I was growing up, I wanted to be..."
“An architect! [laughs]. I think it was because my Godfather was one and it sounded kind of cool. Obviously, I didn’t know what was really involved and it all looked more glamorous as a child than it might often be in reality.”
Best piece of career advice you have ever been given?
“While I was at university doing my undergraduate everyone was getting really worried about getting jobs afterwards and architectural placements over summer. My tutors said ‘Don’t do that – you’ve got the rest of your life to work full time in architecture. Go and do fun stuff over the University holidays and other part time jobs. And don’t worry about trying to get on the career path with architecture during the holidays, just do what you want to do, because you’ve got the rest of your life to do it.’ That was really helpful advice.”
When and why did you start volunteering with Form the Future?
“I started with Form the Future about 18 months ago, through CFCI Next Gen who have a connection to Form the Future. It’s a commitment to volunteering, and CFCI try and encourage young people in construction to go to events and be interconnected. It aligns really well with what Form the Future do, because supporting young people is part of the Next Gen role. As a result of that I got involved with Form the Future, enjoyed it and became an Ambassador with them.”
What do you like most about being an Ambassador and/or what keeps you coming back?
“Mock Interviews are really good fun. I didn’t realise that we would see such a variation in students. You can tell some of the students had a fixed idea about the answer they were supposed to be giving to our questions. So, it’s really nice to be able to unpick that and get to the more real responses; getting them thinking about their value and what they’ve done that’s valuable, as well as what they do in normal life and how that’s useful.
Some of them are all over it and do loads of extra-curricular activity and know what they do is great and why, but the students with a bit less confidence, seeing them gain so much from a 20-minute discussion was really encouraging. Sometimes it takes a bit of digging to get to what actually interests them. It’s often about helping them relax and get away from the formulaic answer, to what really makes them tick, because often that’s what employers are looking for, isn’t it? As much as academic records.”
How do you know that volunteering with Form the Future makes a real difference to young people?
“Just seeing a young person’s confidence grow over the course of an interview. You hope that when they then go for their first actual interview, it will be far less stressful. It’s brilliant to be able to give them that experience, equip them with the confidence to find employment and, help them communicate well and think outside the box.
I wouldn’t have got to where I’ve got to today without people helping me significantly and giving me loads of advice throughout school and university. If you’ve got a job and a career and enough money to live on, then I feel like really important to be able to pass that on and help people get to that same position. Schools can only do so much to help – there’s not enough time or teachers – so if you’ve got the skills to offer, being able to give someone a bit of leg up when they haven’t necessarily got loads of help or guidance at home, is just brilliant.”
Putting aside the benefit to the student, how else has volunteering with Form the Future been a beneficial experience for you?
“The Early Careers Ambassador training – that I did with David from Form the Future training before I started volunteering – explained how to engage with young people, and I found really interesting and useful. I help out with our office work experience, and what I learnt with Form the Future really helps when it comes to liaising with young people and managing those situations.
I went to an Ambassador event a few months ago and there was a section on supporting neurodiverse students which was really applicable to design, and what I do on a daily basis: thinking about how you might design spaces for different kinds of people. The Annual Conference was interesting in its own right too, irrespective of volunteering in schools. Particularly, I remember there was a panel discussion talk about Gen Z within the workplace that brought up some interesting things to think about for when we’ve got young people joining the office on placements. So, a lot of what I’ve learnt with Form the Future about how to communicate with young people and communicate in schools has been super applicable to the workplace and helpful in my professional life too.”
What would you say to someone who’s wondering whether to sign up as an Ambassador with Form the Future?
“It’s really good fun! I was quite intimidated at first. It can be a little bit out of your comfort zone. I’ve not done loads of interviewing, and it can be tricky to realise that you still have something valuable to pass even when you’re not very far into your career. You realise though, that you’ve done lots since you were 14, so still have lots of really useful experience to pass onto young people.
You want a young person to end up in a job they enjoy and put all the options on the table so they know what’s out there and end up in a job they enjoy. Letting them know that even if they’ve not got a conventional academic record, they’ve got something really valuable to offer to the workforce, is so important.”
We share the Ambassador Spotlight in our monthly Ambassador Update emails, as well as on our website and social platforms. It’s a wonderful way to raise the profile of your own volunteering whilst supporting Form the Future in a new and different way.
If you’d like to feature in our next Ambassador Spotlight, email Dawn, our Ambassador Engagement Manager and she’ll send you questions to respond to.